Legacy of Taste, the organisation responsible for heralding Chinese restaurants, has launched The Pagodas – an awards system and online guide to highlight the UK’s best Chinese places to eat.
Eponymous with Chinese pagodas, the awards system tiers the restaurants into three categories:
- One Tiered Pagoda: a great Chinese dining experience
- Two Tiered Pagoda: an excellent dining experience with innovation and particular attention to detail
- Three Tiered Pagoda: the ultimate fine dining experience
Each year a new Legacy of Taste judging panel will be selected consisting of Michelin Star Chinese chefs, TV chefs, Chinese cookery authors and experts in the UK and Chinese food industry.
Ingredients
Handful of purple broccoli stems, washed and trimmed
Shin beef
1 pack of Vermicelli noodles
Chicken stock
Water
Ice
Sugar
Salt
3-4 bay leaves
4-5 star anise
Chinese rice wine
1 sprig of lemongrass
1 tbsp white peppercorns
2 tbsp wild red rice
Half a cinnamon stick
1 tsp black cardamom pods
6-7 slices of ginger
6 sprigs of spring onion
Holy basil
Coriander stems
1 large red chili without seeds
Fish sauce
Sesame oil
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
Method
Beef
Bring water to the boil and place the shin beef in for 2-3 minutes to remove any impurities. Remove carefully, rinse in cool water and set aside.
To another pan of water, add the shin beef, a sprig of lemongrass, 1 star anise, whole white peppercorns, cinnamon stick, the wild red rice and the black cardamom, and boil for 2-3 hours until the beef is tender and soft. Remove the beef, strain the contents and save 1.5pints of the broth.
To add further flavour to the shin beef, add a heaped teaspoon of salt, the same amount of rock sugar and the previously saved broth to 1 pint of water and simmer gently.
Heat a frying pan or wok until very hot and add the rapeseed oil and stir fry the ginger and 5 springs of spring onion for 30 seconds, then add the contents of the broth pan (careful of steam and spitting). Bring this to the boil and then set aside to cool.
Put the shin beef in the pan submerged in the cooled liquid and leave it overnight to steep. Remove the beef and slice thinly ready to serve, any extra can be left in the fridge and eaten later as cold cuts.
Broccoli
Gently poach the broccoli stems in water with a teaspoon of sugar for approximately 2 minutes, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Consommé
In a cooking pan add a bay leaf, a star anise and a couple of generous glugs of rice wine, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar to 2-3 pints of water, and bring to the boil. Once this is done, set aside and add a few handfuls of ice cubes.
Vermicelli salad
Place the vermicelli into a pan of boiling water, and bring to the boil again. Drain and cover with a damp cloth.
Thinly slice 1 spring onion diagonally, chop coriander stems, a large deseeded red chili and holy basil leaves, combine with the vermicelli noodles; season with a splash of fish sauce and sesame oil.
To serve
Dress a plate with loose coriander leaves and holy basil and wind the vermicelli salad around the stems of broccoli and present in the center of the plate. The thinly sliced shin beef will sit on top of the bed of vermicelli salad.
Ingredients
180g Black Angus beef rib-eye steak cut evenly into cubes, about 15g each
20g peeled garlic cloves, blanched and boiled in hot water for 5 minutes
40g Thai spring onions
50g diced onions
40g Merlot
150ml vegetable oil
½ tsp starch
1 tsp brown sauce
Sauce
8g cracked black pepper
32g butter
120g tomato sauce
18g liquid seasoning
12g Worcestershire sauce
32g chicken powder seasoning
18g white sugar
Method
Lightly season the meat with salt, 2 twists of black pepper, the starch and 2 teaspoons of water. Mix well and set aside. Add the brown sauce and oil before cooking. Brown the garlic in oil and remove.
Sauce
To make the sauce, fry the cracked pepper, add the butter and oil, then the rest of the ingredients. Continue to cook until the sauce is glistening and thick, coating the back of the spoon. Cool and keep for later.
In a clean pan, soften the onions with ½ tsp water and oil, and drain. Now fry the rib-eye steak in the pan with the remaining oil, browning all sides. Add the red wine, onions and garlic, then 2 tbsp of sauce. Mix well until the liquid dries and coats the meat.
Serves 2
Ingredients
300g dried Chinese egg noodles
100g minced Pork
50g dried shrimp
1 tbsp pickled Chinese vegetables
1 tsp fresh chilli
2 tbsps chilli oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
½ tsp sesame oil
Dash of soy sauce
300ml chicken stock
Chopped spring onions
Method
Poach the noodles until almost cooked and set aside.
Stir fry the minced pork, shrimp, and pickled vegetables, with the fresh chili in a teaspoon of vegetable oil over a high heat. Add the chili oil, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce to the wok before adding the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and add the noodles. Garnish with the spring onions and serve in bowls.
Yang Sing
34 Princes Street, Manchester, M1 4JY, UK
0161236 2200
Hakkasan
8 Hanway Pl, London W1T 1HD
020 7927 7000
Hutong
Level 33 The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY
020 3011 1257